


Nicknames

by 80sdays



Category: Frühlings Erwachen | Spring Awakening - Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: Broadway, F/F, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Matchmaking, Mystery, Nicknames, fluff kinda??, hughkey gay, i started writing this ages ago so like here finally, pls read xoxo, spring awakening - Freeform, vv mushy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:31:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80sdays/pseuds/80sdays
Summary: Moritz Steiffel isn't a confident, until Melchior Gabor changes that.





	Nicknames

**Author's Note:**

> so, i wrote this after i read every melchritz fic in one weekend, so here
> 
> also i wanna write more, and can now cause its summer, so feel free to request things broadway related on my tumblr, or just check out different drabbles and stuff
> 
> dazingsky.tumblr.com 
> 
> but yeah, enjoy

Moritz Steiffel was a lot of things, but confident wasn’t one of them. He was awkward, and pitiful, and a general anxiety ridden mess. This was why his first encounter with Melchior Gabor, one of the most popular boys on campus, was so out of the ordinary.

Melchior Gabor was very different to Moritz. For one, he was always calm and collected, and two, everyone seemed to love him. He was naturally good looking, and everyone knew it. He was one of the smartest people in his year, and he didn’t even try. This was one of the infuriating points about Melchior Gabor.

And Moritz hated him because of this point, as well as a few other kids in his year. Moritz could spend 6 hours every day studying, and none of the information would stick with him. Moritz just wasn’t smart. At least that’s what he thought. 

And these were the thoughts that were haunting his head before his first encounter with the infamous Melchior Gabor. Midterms were just around the corner, and the library was pretty packed with students desperately trying to cram before their exams began. Moritz was sat at his own table, with three textbooks spread out in front of him. He had been there for two hours before Melchior and his friends arrived. He had been reading, and rereading the notes he had taken, and flipping back and forth throughout his textbook, and yet none of the information had gone in. 

He knew that once he got into the classroom, and sat in front of his exam, that he wouldn’t remember a thing. He knew that this studying was pointless, but he was desperate for good grades this year. 

And as Moritz was easily distracted, he thought the library would be a good place for him to put in the hours. But with Melchior’s arrival came a large upset to Moritz. His group sat at the table beside Moritz’s, and talked continually, about basically nothing. 

Moritz attempted to ignore them, but that gets pretty difficult when they begin playing penis. Penis was a game that Moritz classed as childish, considering a game where you attempt to shout the word in public places seemed stupid. And it was also very distracting.

Moritz recognised the other boys at the table to be Otto, and Hanschen, two boys who seemed to be entertained by basically everything Melchior did. 

He grew bored of listening to them attempt to one up each other in the game, when Moritz realised that they were pretty bad at the game. Melchior was leaning back in his chair, listening to the boys say penis, each time gaining volume, but not quite enough for it to become an interesting game. 

Moritz could see that Melchior was just watching the boys play the game, and make fools out of themselves. He had that small smirk on his face, showing his amusement towards the situation. It made Moritz visibly roll his eyes. 

His patience was fading, and he was close to snapping when he came up with his idea. When he noticed that Otto was about to open his mouth, and probably barely whisper the P word, Moritz lost his cool.

He had never been confident, but the word Penis was shouted by him, quickly and shortly, and the librarian noticed. So did the boys at the table beside him. Moritz felt the eyes upon him, and Moritz did the first thing that came to mind. 

He looked over at the group of boys, and pretended to be shocked, acting as though they had done it. And the librarian apparently bought into it, as she made her way to their table, instead of his.

Moritz looked back at his books, pretending to try and study again. He smirked when the librarian demanded the boys left, and didn’t come back until after midterms. She muttered about how distracting they were, as they walked out, and Moritz felt proud of himself. 

Moritz could finally go back to studying, and that’s exactly what he did. He could finally concentrate, and he could actually feel himself getting the hang of what he was doing. 

He spent another hour studying, and then gave up, considering it was getting late. He swung his backpack over his shoulder, and collected up his books. He slowly made his way through the library, in order to get to the door, and ignored the other people sitting at other tables. As soon as he got outside he felt the cold air of autumn hit him. 

He walked down the steps of the library, and thats when he noticed Melchior Gabor, sat on a bench at the bottom of the library steps, holding a notebook, and staring at it intently. Moritz sighed quietly, a part of him feeling guilty for getting him kicked out of the library, but then he looked up, and Moritz noticed the small smirk forming on Melchior’s face. He didn't feel guilty anymore. 

Moritz continued down the steps, and past the bench Melchior sat on. He continued walking, even though he heard the soft thud of footsteps behind him, and he ignored the relatively loud ‘hey you!’s that were coming from him. He only stopped when he heard the nickname, which apparently Melchior deemed appropriate. “Penis boy!” 

Moritz halted, and turned around quickly, coming face to face with Melchior Gabor, a boy he despised. “Don’t call me that.” Moritz deadpanned. 

“I don’t know your name, and you weren’t answering me.” Melchior shrugged. He had the same small smirk on his face as he usually did, and it made Moritz feel like hitting him. 

“That’s no excuse for you to call me Penis boy.” Moritz argued.

“Then tell me your name!” Melchior suggested. He had a hopeful look in his eyes, which Moritz chose to ignore, as he turned around, and decided to keep walking. “Cmon, I don’t bite!” He held out a hand towards Moritz, and put on his most charming smile. “I’m M-“

“Melchior Gabor. I know who you are.” Moritz sighed, continuing to walk, slowly. 

“So if you know my name, it’s only fair I learn yours, right?” Melchior smirked. Moritz couldn’t help but feel hatred towards the boy.

“Did you really sit outside the library for an hour just to learn my name?”

“Kind of..” Melchior shrugged. He said it casually, but it made Moritz stomach twist. They were coming close to Moritz’s dorm building, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved that his conversation with the slightly taller boy would quickly come to an end. 

“That’s creepy.” Moritz pointed out, and Melchior rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t think so.” Melchior shrugged.

“Of course you don’t.” 

“I’d call it romantic.” Moritz practically snorted, beginning to laugh uncontrollably to himself. 

“Maybe in a Jeffery Dahmer kinda way.” Moritz explained, and then looked up, realising they were at his building. “This is me..” He motioned towards the building. 

“I can walk you in!” Melchior suggested.

“That would be even creepier.”

“Just tell me your name.” He attempted. 

“Bye Melchior.” Moritz smirked, and walked into the building. 

—————————————————

Moritz thought about his encounter with the curly haired boy a lot when he was back in the safety of his dorm room. He also ended up calling his friend Ilse, just to tell her that he had managed to casually blow off Melchior Gabor’s casual flirting. She had been very proud. 

But within a few days he had forgotten about the encounter. Midterms had ended, and most people had left campus to see family and friends, over the halloween break. The library and art departments were still open though, so quite a few students who were already preparing for arts finals were staying over the break. Moritz was one of them. 

He had confidently finished his art history exam, which he had studied ridiculously hard for, but now he actually had to come up with a good collection idea. 

That was why he was sat in a coffee shop, just off campus, with his small sketchbook lying on his table. He had a mug of coffee, and his earphones in, hoping for inspiration. And of course, with looking this busy, Melchior decided it was the perfect time to bump into Moritz. 

“Penis boy!” Melchior greeted, clapping his hands. Moritz stared at him, pulling an earphone out of his one of his ears, slowly.   
“That’s still not my name.” They hadn’t seen each other in almost 2 weeks, but Moritz wished it were longer. 

“I know, but I still don't know your name.” Moritz glared, as Melchior pulled the chair across from him out, and sat down, placing his coffee on the table. “I could stop calling you Penis Boy if you told me your name.” 

“Then you would stalk me. And I’m quite happy not getting stalked.” 

“You think a lot of yourself, huh?” Melchior smirked, leaning back in his chair. Moritz rolled his eyes, and shook his head. He wished he thought a lot of himself, but in reality he hated himself. But Melchior didn’t hear this internal conversation, so he continued on. “What are you doing here, anyway? Didn’t basically everyone rush home for break?”

Moritz shrugged. “I have stuff to do.” With this being said, Melchior picked up his sketchbook, and immediately flipped to the front page. He was obviously looking for a name, but Moritz hadn’t bothered adding his name to the front page. 

“I’d like to be happy?” Melchior read, and shot a questioning look towards Moritz.

“Mr Duncan said our concept topic was I’d like to be able to do that, and we could interpret in whatever way we cared.” Moritz shrugged.

“And you’re unhappy?” Melchior rose an eyebrow. 

“Pretty much. And I felt that was a broad concept. I can paint basically anything now. If waffles make me happy, I just have to draw waffles, and boom. Done.” Melchior looked rather impressed with this reasoning. 

“Smart.” He flicked through the pages of the sketchbook, studying some of the simple drawings that Moritz had been attempting to design over the past few weeks. “You’re really talented.” He bushed lightly at this comment, ducking his head slightly so Melchior wouldn’t notice, but of course he did, and he smirked. 

“I’m okay. My friend, Ilse, she’s amazing!” Moritz gushed. 

“Ilse Neumann?” Melchior questioned, and Moritz mentally curse himself, before nodding. “Oh my god, my friend has the biggest crush on her!” 

“R-really?” Moritz questioned. He had expected Melchior to say that he would ask Ilse for Moritz’s name, but this eased his mind. 

“Yeah!” Melchior nodded, seemingly more enthusiastic. “Y’know Wendla Bergmann? She’s liked Ilse for ages!” 

“Ilse likes her too, she’s just too scared to ask her out.” Moritz clarified. “It’’s kinda sweet.”

Melchior nodded, and then checked his watch. “Shit, I gotta go.” He got up abruptly, and picked up his coffee cup. “I’ll see you around though?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Moritz nodded. 

“We can get Ilse and Wendla together, or just get coffee.” Melchior smirked.

“Sure. We’ll organise something.” 

“I don’t have your number, though…” Melchior said, in a dramatic tone. 

“I’ll find you.” Moritz shrugged. 

—————————————————— 

Moritz wasn’t exactly sure where his confidence came from when he was around Melchior. He was basically terrified of everyone else on campus, except Ilse, but Melchior seemed different. He made Moritz feel at ease, if not slightly bubbly. 

That was why he had managed to get Melchior’s number, from Ilse, who got it from Wendla. Ilse had a sly smile when Moritz had put in the request, and began to question him about it, but she had shut up when Moritz called it a good excuse for her to talk to Wendla.

Hey, I dunno if you’re free this week, sometime for coffee, but I thought that maybe we could meet up and try and set up Wendla and Ilse. Let me know,   
-you know who

Moritz’s felt nervous as he sent the text, but felt instant relief when his phone buzzed, seconds later. 

I’m free tomorrow, coffee shop I saw you at last week? I’m buying x

Moritz ignored the X and had agreed to go. He had also agreed for Ilse to walk him to the coffee shop, on the way to the library.   
“So…” Ilse began, and Moritz rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming. Questioning. “You’re going on a date.. With Melchior Gabor. The most popular boy in this entire college.”

“It’s not a date.” Moritz sighed. 

“Yes it is. It’s a date. Between you, and Mr Gabor.” Ilse had a shit eating grin on her face, as she looked at Moritz. “You and Melchior are gonna have such cute children.” 

Moritz didn’t bother correcting her, he just shot her a look. “You’re so annoying, you know that?” 

“I know, but you know I’m right. You’re literally about to go on a coffee date with him.” 

“It’s not a date. We’re just working on a project.” Moritz wasn’t lying. It wasn’t a date, and it was technically a project. Project get Ilse and Wendla together. But Moritz left that out. 

“You guys don't even have classes together. Stop making bad excuses. He likes you!” Moritz sighed, shaking his head. 

Moritz couldn’t fathom the idea that Melchior could like him. Melchior could get anyone in the school, so Moritz couldn’t see the reason why he would have any reason to like Moritz. But he didn't mention that to Ilse, because she would probably start ranting about how Moritz should know his self worth. 

When they arrived at the coffee shop, Moritz nodded. “Well I’ll see you later!” He turned to walk into the coffee shop, and then noticed Ilse following him. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m gonna buy myself a coffee. I’ll need it for the library.” She shrugged, and walked around him, and into the coffee shop. Moritz instantly felt fear well up inside him, and he turned, following her quickly. 

As soon as they entered, Moritz watched as Ilse walked up to the counter, and ordered herself a coffee. He scanned the small shop, searching for Melchior, and then noticed him sat in the back. Two coffee cups sat on the table, and Moritz felt himself blush. He suddenly felt nervous, and thought back to the X on the end of his text. Was it a date? Was Ilse right?

“I’ll see you later.” Moritz muttered, patting her on the shoulder. Ilse nodded, muttering a ‘see you soon’ to him. Moritz slowly walked towards Melchior’s table. He noticed, now, that the boy was writing in a notebook. His hand moved quickly across the page, and his face looked calm. A part of Moritz wished he could just stare at the peaceful scene forever, but he soon snapped out of that. He couldn’t have feelings for Melchior Gabor. He refused. 

Melchior looked up when Moritz finally slipped into the seat across from him. A small smile spread across his lips, and he put the notebook down. “Well here you are.” 

“As are you.” Moritz nodded slowly, and rested his arms on the table. 

“I got you this.” He pushed one of the coffee cups towards him. Moritz rose an eyebrow. “I had to guess but you seem like a cappuccino type of person.” 

“Do I?” Melchior nodded, amusement playing in his eyes. “You didn’t have to pay for my coffee..” Moritz knew he was probably blushing again, but he couldn’t help it. 

“Well, I said I’d pay.” Melchior shrugged as though it was nothing. “Did I get your order right?” Moritz nodded, and Melchior smiled, opening his mouth to speak but he was cut off. 

“Oh my god, did you buy him a coffee?” The question made both boys jump, and they both turned to see Ilse, with coffee and a bagel in hand, and a grin on her face. 

“Yes. I did.” Melchior nodded, smirking again. 

“Oh that’s so precious, I knew it was a date, gosh M-“ 

“It’s not a date.” Moritz cut her off quickly, before she could say his name. Melchior and Ilse looked at him, eyebrows raised. 

“Right..” Ilse nodded, her voice sounding skeptical. “I’ll leave you two to your date.. Use protection, I’ll see you later!” She turned and walked out quickly, and Moritz couldn't help but notice her shoulder shake with laughter as she left. 

“So this is a date?” Melchior chimed in. He had a smug look on his face, which he didn't bother hiding. 

“No?” Moritz felt awkward now, and he was regretting having Ilse walk him here. 

“Why not?” Melchior questioned, picking up his cup, and taking a sip. Moritz couldn’t help but watch with awe. Melchior was very nice to look at, although Moritz hated himself for thinking it. 

“Because dates are between people who like each other..” Moritz shrugged. “And people who know each others names.” 

“Blind dates are.” Melchior offered, and Moritz rolled his eyes. “And besides, you know my name. You’re the only person stopping this from being a date.”

“But the first reason still stands.” Moritz offered. 

“You don't like me?” Melchior asked. His eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at Moritz with big eyes. 

“No, no. I do. I really like you, y-you’re nice.” Moritz said, his voice shaking ever so slightly. 

“Good.” Melchior smirked. “Anyway, we need to come up with this plan.” 

The afternoon continued with the two edging their chairs closer to one another’s, before eventually ending up with them side by side. They hunched over Melchior’s notebook, and formulated a plan to get Ilse and Wendla together. 

———————————————————————

Moritz was having fun with the fact that Melchior didn’t know his name. He enjoyed the fact that it made him seem mysterious. Although it really didn’t. Moritz wasn’t a mysterious person. He was the type of person who blushed every time Melchior bumped his shoulder. 

The two didn’t see each other much after that, as Moritz had to begin working on his art final, but the two texted often, continuing to carry out their plan to get their two friends together. 

Their plan was to get the two girls to write confession letters to the other. The boys would claim that it was for their own health, and then secretly take them, and give them to the other. They were going to meet in Moritz art classroom, to talk over the plan again. At least that was Moritz’s excuse when he invited Melchior over, even though they had gone over the plan a ridiculous amount in the past few days. 

Melchior arrived holding two coffee cups, with a bag slung over his shoulder. He also had a wide smile on his face, as he walked into the room. “Hey, Mystery boy.” 

The nickname had changed on their third organised outing. Moritz had to admit, it made his heart race. “Hey.” Moritz had said, glancing over his shoulder. He was standing in front of an easel, painting peacefully. 

“I brought you coffee.” Melchior grabbed a stool, and made his way over to Moritz. He set it down behind the easel, and put a coffee down on the small table beside the paints and paintbrushes Moritz had set out. 

“Thank you, Melchi.” Moritz’s was obviously distracted, and Melchior noticed. He placed his own coffee on the table beside Moritz’s and then placed his hands on his waist. Moritz instinctively jumped, and Melchior smiled, placing his head on the artistic boys shoulder.

The painting was of a skyline. It had a beautiful sun setting over the tall buildings, and the sun beamed over the buildings’ windows. There was a stunning amount of detail in the painting, and Melchior understood now why Moritz had blown off so many of their hang outs. 

“Wow, that’s stunning.” Melchior breathed, his voice giving Moritz chills. “You have such an amazing talent.” 

“T-thank you..” Moritz muttered. 

“You’re welcome.” Melchior smiled. Moritz put his paintbrush down, and took a sip of his coffee, letting out a content sigh. 

“So the plan..” Moritz trailed off, turning around. He bit his lip, as Melchior adjusted his hands on his hips. Melchior smirked, instinctively, and shook his head. 

“Right, the plan..” He nodded. “I will talk to Wendla tonight, and you’ll talk to Ilse. Then tomorrow we’ll meet up, exchange letters, and give the to the girls.” 

Moritz nodded, and couldn't help but stare at Melchior for a lingering second. His face was so close to Moritz’s, and his big brown eyes were staring into his soul. It made Moritz’s heart beat quicker than he even thought was possible. 

“Great! Well then! Thank you for the coffee, and t-the compliment..” Moritz stuttered, mentally cursing himself. “I need to finish this though.”

Melchior understood right away, and nodded quickly. “Of course. I’ll see you in the morning, and we’ll swap the letters. Get some rest tonight, though.” He offered. 

“I will.” Moritz nodded, and couldn't help but long for Melchior fingers to land back on his waist, once he’d taken them away. He watched as the taller boy grabbed his stuff, and smiled at Moritz again. 

“See you in the morning, Mystery boy..” 

———————————————————

Getting Ilse to write a letter had been easy, and Moritz had easily snatched it from her bag before she left. He had read over it, and thought it was absolutely adorable. And Moritz hadn't even thought about it, as he found himself outside of Melchior’s dorm room. He had asked Ilse the address last week, and after a lot of teasing she had given it to him. He claimed it was for emergencies. This seemed like one. 

He rose his hand to knock, when the door swung open, revealing Otto, his roommate. He rose an eyebrow at Moritz. 

“Melchior, you’re penis boy is here.” Otto called over his shoulder, and then moved around him, leaving Moritz stood in his doorway. 

Melchior arrived at the door, and rose an eyebrow. “Mystery boy? You’re around 12 hours early..” 

“I know. But you have to read this, I couldn't wait!” Moritz rushed, holding up Ilse’s letter. Melchior opened the door, more, and stood back, leaving space for Moritz to walk in. Moritz did so, and looked around. 

The room was relatively clean, apart from the few books strewn across one of the beds. There was also two shelves right beside the bed, with notebooks stacked on it. It had to be Melchior’s bed. 

Melchior took the letter from him, and his eyes began scanning the sheet. Moritz stood there, awkwardly. He regretted coming here now, but in the moments after reading Ilse’s letter he felt Melchior needed to read it. There were plenty of phrases in it that made Moritz wanna hug Ilse and tell her that she was absolutely amazing, and if Wendla didn’t like her back she was obviously an idiot. 

Melchior was grinning by the end of the letter. “This is adorable..” Melchior said, looking up quickly. “Do you wanna read Wendla’s?” Moritz nodded quickly, and watched as Melchior walked over to his nightstand and grabbed a sheet of paper. 

Moritz read over it, and it didn’t take that long. Ilse’s letter contained several paragraphs, yet Wendla’s simply said I’m in love with you.

“Wow.” Moritz breathed, and shook his head. “That’s straight to the point.” 

“She’s a woman of little words.” Melchior shrugged, smiling slightly at Moritz. Moritz simply nodded, slowly, and bit his lip. 

“Okay. I’m gonna give this to Ilse. Tonight. She needs to see it.” Melchior nodded slowly, and held up Ilse’s letter. 

“I’ll give this to Wendla tonight. I’ll go over now, whilst you give yours to Ilse. And we’ll meet tomorrow as we planned. I’ll buy breakfast.” 

“Okay..” Was all Moritz said, as he turned and left Melchiors home, clutching the letter. 

He found himself in front of Ilse’s dorm in no time, and barged in. He basically threw the letter at her, and excused himself before she could question what he was doing. He made it home soon after, and fell asleep, happy for his friends, and excited for his breakfast date with Melchior.

———————————————————————

Moritz didn’t want to admit, but he had a slight crush on Melchior. In fact he hated to admit it. He never wanted to admit it. He wanted the feelings to vanish, and to become someone who hated the taller boy, once again. He missed hating Melchior. 

But he couldn’t hate Melchior, considering the boy has pancakes, and hot chocolate waiting for him when he entered their usual cafe, the following morning. 

“You didn’t have to buy me breakfast.” Moritz sighed, sitting in the seat across from Melchior. The boy in front of him shrugged, the same smirk tugging at his lips, as it usually did. 

“I don’t have to do a lot of things, but occasionally I want to.” He smiled, a genuine smile, and glanced around the cafe.

“Like what?” Moritz questioned. 

“Like ask you out on a proper date, Moritz.” His eyes met Moritz’s and he was pretty sure he’d melt under his gaze. 

“You know my name?” He found himself asking. 

“Yeah, I told one of my friends I was going to visit you at the studio the other day, and they kindly pointed out that the only person who ever painted weekends was a Mr Moritz Steiffel.” The smirk fell back onto his face. “So, now that I know your name, and you know I like you, can I take you out tonight?” 

“Of course!” Moritz almost shouted, which made Melchior chuckle. He blushed, ducked his head, which made Melchior laugh more. 

“You’re adorable.” Was all he said, before leaning over their small table, and kissing Moritz, lightly, on the cheek. 

This was all the invitation Moritz needed, as he looked around quickly, and scooted his chair to Melchiors side of the table. Melchior opened his mouth to question what was happening, when Moritz captured him in a kiss, and held his face in place, by letting one of his hands fall too the boys cheek. 

Moritz Steiffel was a lot of things, and apparently confident was now one of them.


End file.
